A Joke
by Hafl
Summary: Alicia tries to persuade Darrell to play an ambitious trick on Gwen.
1. Chapter 1  Proposition

„Alicia that would be just mean. Not to mention it would ruin the entire pantomime," said Darrell.

"Nonsense," said Alicia, "It would make it better and not only that, it would also teach Gwen a lesson."

Darrell sighed. It was just like Alicia, to wait for a day when Sally was busy coaching the lower forms, and then start persuading Darrell to rewrite the pantomime completely. She just didn't understand how much had Darrell already given to the script.

"Don't you think we would all have a splendid laugh over it?" continued Alicia, "and not only because of the pantomime."

"No, just no," said Darrell, "I'm not rewriting the script entirely to make it a comedy, not to mention giving Gwen the lead role."

At that moment, the door opened and Sally entered the room. "Oh, hello Alicia," she said.

"Hello, Sally," said Alicia and turned to Darrell, "Think about it a little and you'll see that I'm right." After this, she walked around Sally and left.

When the door closed, Sally took a seat next to Darrell. "What did Alicia want?" she asked.

"She had some ideas about the script," said Darrell, "I told her no, since it would mean rewriting it entirely."

"Did she want a bigger role for herself?" asked Sally.

Darrell shook her head. "No, nothing like that. Don't worry about it, Sally. I'd tell you if I wanted to change something."

"I know, so why don't you tell me what it was," said Sally, "Maybe it was a good idea."

"Well, she wanted me to rewrite the script to be a pure comedy," said Darrell, "and then to give the role of Cinderella to Gwen, without telling her it was a comedy."

Sally laughed, but stopped almost immediately. "Wouldn't that be splendid, having the entire audience laugh at Gwen? It would serve her right."

"Maybe," said Darrell, "But knowing Gwen, she would break down in tears and run from stage at the first opportunity."

"You're right," said Sally, "But just imagine it. Gwen, dressed in a beautiful costume, walks on the stage, all proud and pudgy and then declaims some ridiculous lines she can't even understand, since she is just so besotted with the idea of playing a Cinderella."

When she pictured this, Darrell had to laugh. Still, the script, even after all the work put into it, was far from finished and there was no time to waste. There was certainly no time to think about Alicia's idea, so she and Sally settled down to write more of the script in what little time they still had before dinner.

Meanwhile, Alicia was looking for Betty to share the news of her meeting with Darrell. This big trick on Gwen may not have been Betty's idea, but it was Betty, who persuaded her to try and convince Darrell to change the script. Sadly, Betty was nowhere to be found. She even asked Catherine about her, but Catherine, being a North Tower girl, had no knowledge about Betty's whereabouts.

In the end, Alicia just waited until dinner to tell Betty. Alicia's account did not surprise Betty and she told Alicia so. After all, it was unreasonable to expect Darrell to change the script just to accommodate Alicia's idea.

However, Alicia knew Darrell much better than Betty did. She knew that Darrell, when properly led, would never decline a chance to play a trick and this one was so ambitious, that Darrell might be tempted even with Sally's influence. Alicia did not tell this to Betty, so her friend considered the matter closed, but Alicia was determined to make Darrell see things her way.

Next day, just after the classes ended, Alicia sought out Darrell. Sally was with her, but Alicia did not mind, Sally's presence was to be expected.

"Did you think about my idea?" she asked.

"I did," said Darrell, "It is a good joke, but it would ruin the pantomime for everybody, since Gwen would just break down after the first laugh."

"So you no longer mind the extra work it would take?" said Alicia.

"I do, but the work is not important, when the idea itself is impossible," replied Darrell.

Alicia was expecting this, so she pulled out her trump card, an expression borrowed from one of her brothers. "Gwen running away can be part of the play too. After she does, someone else can take her place, someone who would be in on the joke."

Darrell herself appeared to be almost convinced, but Sally had decided to enter the conversation, "But that would mean extra costume and we would be taking someone's chance to have a role, if they were to be Gwen's understudy."

"Do you really trust Gwen that much?" asked Alicia.

"No, I do not," admitted Sally.

"See?" said Alicia, "If you're worried that much about the extra work, I can help. Besides, didn't someone say that writing a great comedy is a much bigger achievement than writing a great tragedy?"

Darrell nodded slowly. "One condition: We must first tell everyone about it and see if they agree. If they do not, there won't be any changes. Do you agree?"

"I do," said Alicia, "And since Sally's already here, let's ask her. What do you think?"

Sally was quiet for a moment, her eyes looking from Darrell to Alicia and then back again. Then she spoke, "I'm for it."


	2. Chapter 2  Meeting

It took Alicia a week, before she could arrange a meeting of both the committee and other girls from North Tower Fifth Form without arousing Gwen's, Maureen's, or Catherine's suspicion. Alicia did not like the wait, as the precious time that was slipping away could be better used for rewriting the script, but Darrell wouldn't budge.

On the evening when the meeting took place, both Gwen and Maureen were enjoying special attention from Mam'zelles Rougier and Dupont because of their abysmal performances in French that day and Catherine simply wasn't invited. Moira certainly wasn't pleased that girls who weren't on the pantomime committee were invited and let everyone knew, drawing complaints that she was making the meeting longer than it had to be. After everybody finally calmed down, Alicia had the unpleasant task of explaining why they were asked to come. Moira, whatever her feelings about the proposition were, did manage to keep everyone from interrupting and Alicia thought that even her domineering attitude was sometimes useful. However, after her proposal and all the reason in its favour were explained, everyone wanted to talk at once.

"You mean, I would have to sing a _funny _song?" said Mavis.

"Why not? I wouldn't mind writing funny music," said Irene.

"I still haven't finished my part of the work. I can still change it easily," said Belinda.

"It doesn't seem very nice to Gwen," said Mary-Lou.

"But Gwen deserves it," said Bill, "Just remember how she treated Clarissa last term."

"She's just insufferable this term," said Clarissa, "Always going around as if she already was Cinderella. Gwen could use a lesson exactly like this."

"That still doesn't make it right to shame her in public," said Daphne.

"Well, if Darrell agrees to these changes, I have no objections," said Moira, "She was entrusted with writing the script, and so she can write it any way she decides."

"I suppose so," said Mavis, "Singing whatever I need to is part of being a professional."

"Well, I have no objections," said Janet, "The costumes will stay the same, won't they?"

"There may be some small changes," said Alicia, "But nothing major."

"Enough," said Moira, "We've heard the proposal and everyone, who didn't already know about it, had time to speak their mind, so let's vote. Who's for the proposal?"

In the end, Mavis, Moira, Janet and Sally abstained, while Mary-Lou and Daphne were against the idea. After seeing the results, Sally looked relieved and Alicia thought that even though the proposal had passed the vote, Sally might still think that Darrell does not have to make the changes, because the vote was not unanimous. However, Moira quickly took command of the situation and solved that problem for Alicia.

"Sorry, Mary-Lou, Daphne," said Moira, "But the majority is against you. Even if Catherine were here, she wouldn't be able to sway the vote, so as head of the form and producer, I'm saying that the pantomime will be changed. Alicia, since all this was your idea, tell us what needs to be done."

Alicia stepped forward. "There are only two things that need to be done right now. First, we must all swear that we won't breathe a word of this to neither Gwen nor Maureen. If they find about this, it would all be for nothing. Second, we need a replacement actress for Gwen, if Gwen decides to run away. We wanted Mary-Lou for that, but…"

Mary-Lou shook her head. "No, I won't do it. It's too harsh, even Gwen doesn't deserve that."

"Daphne?" said Alicia.

"Are you daft, Alicia?" said Daphne, "Of course I won't do it. There's a difference between teaching someone a lesson and making them a laughingstock in front of their parents and all the little kids."

"Her parents would love Gwen, even if all the Earth laughed at her," said Alicia, "And none of the kids respects Gwen anyway, they hardly respect us. Well, if you won't do it, I'm not going to force you."

"I could do it," said Clarissa, "I wouldn't mind seeing Gwen getting what she deserves from up close, even if I might not have the chance to act at all."

"Then, if no one has any objections, it's decided," said Alicia, "Clarissa will be Gwen's replacement. And that's all that needs to be decided right now."

"Well," said Moira, "Let's end this meeting then. Mary-Lou, Daphne, before you leave. I'm not accusing you when I say this, but do not tell Gwen or Maureen about any of this. We decided this as a group, so if you tell them, you'll be breaking the trust of everyone here. I know you're trustworthy, but… You were just a little too vehement in opposing this, after the decision has been made. It's only natural of me to be a little wary, since as the producer, I'm responsible for the pantomime's success."

And with this little speech, the meeting was finished and Alicia was relieved that it turned out so well.


	3. Chapter 3 Writing

The next day after the meeting, Alicia was ready to fulfill her promise and help Darrell and Sally in rewriting the pantomime's script. Neither Darrell nor Sally seemed too happy about the prospect of so much additional work, but neither of them was the kind of girl that would go back on her word.

When the three of them finally sat around a table, the first thing Alicia had to do was to read the parts of the script that were already written. It was good, but not what she had envisioned for her trick on Gwen. A whole lot of changes would be needed, but with her doing them, it would take no time and the script would be much better than before.

"So," she began after she finished reading, "This is a good script, but it's not what we need. It needs to be more comedic, especially the opening part."

"No, not at all," said Darrell, "If we make beginning the funniest part, everything after it will be a letdown."

"Darrell's right. Pacing is important in this. I understand you want to have fun at Gwen's expense, but you need to wait for it," said Sally.

"I suppose you're right, Darrell," said Alicia, "But that opening is dull. It needs special attention."

"Well then," said Sally, "Why don't you write it, if you think that what Darrell wrote is so bad?"

"Why not?" said Alicia, "I think the plot is good, it just needs to be made funnier. Let's get to work."

They started working. Darrell and Sally were working together on the rewrites, leaving Alicia to concentrate on her own part. It suited her just fine, but the situation seemed, as if Darrell and Sally did not want her working with them and that was irritating. After all, she was just keeping her part of the bargain. If they did not want her to be there, they could have just turned her down at the very beginning.

After an hour later or so, the time they could spare for writing that day had ended, so they swapped their respective works to check it. Alicia was appaled. The script was dull, lifeless and nothing like it should have been. She shook her head and sighed. "It's no good," she said, "This is boring."

"What?" said Sally, "All of it?"

"Yes," said Alicia, "Pretty much. There are good parts, but the bad ones drag them down." She pointed at a particulary bad part. "This is just bad. It is forced and the worst part of the entire script."

"What? I thought it was the best," said Sally, "I put a lot of effort there."

"Effort is wasted if you don't have talent," said Alicia, "And it seems you have none. At least for writing comedy."

"Alicia!" said Darrell, "Don't be so harsh. Sally tried her best."

"She may have, but what she wrote is worthless," said Alicia, "She should just stick to correcting mistakes."

Darrell stood up, eyes blazing. "Take that back," she said.

"You know it's true," said Alicia and prepared herself in case Darrell lost control of her temper.

"Stop it, both of you!" cried Sally.

"Sorry," muttered Darrell, "Alicia, you were too harsh, but I have out of line too."

"Alicia," said Sally, "I understand. I'm no good at writing comedy, so I'll leave you two alone. I think Moira could some more help coaching the kids, since most of us are busy with the pantomime."

Everybody was silent as Sally gathered her things and left. When the door closed, Darrell spoke, "Now you've done it. Without Sally's help, we won't be able to finish in time."

"Don't worry," said Alicia, "I'll work for two. Remember, I'm almost a genius. Well, when I'm not sick."

Darrell sighed, but did not argue. The day's work was mostly wasted, since Sally's contributions would have to be redone from the scratch. However, weekend was approaching and with Sally taking up coaching duties, Alicia and Darrell could devote almost entire two days to rewrites.

On Saturday, they managed to rewrite all the parts of the script that had been already done. On Sunday, they changed their writing arrangements. This time, Darrell was doing all the writing, with Alicia sitting next to her, offering suggestions and criticism.

After the weekend ended, more than half of the script, including the parts they rewrote, had been finished. Feeling generous, Alicia asked Sally if she would like to join them again, but Sally declined and Alicia did not mind in the slightest. The time spent alone with Darrell would be like years before, when they were much closer than now. True, Alicia had Betty, but she was from the West Tower and sometimes, Alicia thought Betty did not really understand things like Darrell would.

The script was getting along just fine and during one of the writing sessions, Alicia suddenly got an impish idea. Darrell was completely focused on writing, only stopping to brush away any hair that might have fallen into her face. After she decided, it took Alicia only a second to grab Darrell's writing hand and kiss her as soon as she turned to ask Alicia what she was doing.

Darrell was rigid with shock and when Alicia drew back, she saw that Darrell's cheeks were burning bright red and her eyes were widened with surprise. "A-Alicia," she stammered, "What are you doing?"

"I just felt like it," said Alicia, "You looked awful pretty just now, you know."

"What are you saying?" said Darrell, "Whatever, we have work to do."

Darrell started writing again, but Alicia noticed that her hand seemed a little shaky and that her cheeks sometimes reddened again. Apart from that, time went by as usual. However at the end, Darrell turned to Alicia. "Alicia, what you did today… Why?"

Alicia smiled. "Like I said, you looked awful pretty."

"But why?" said Darrell, "Bill and I thought that maybe you and Betty, but…"

"No," said Alicia, "I like Betty a lot, but you're much prettier."

"And what do you want to do now?" said Darrell.

"I don't know," admitted Alicia, "It was a silly thing to do."

"Well, I felt like I was somehow betraying Sally," said Darrell, "I think I should tell her."

"Darrell," said Alicia, "I know I said it was a silly idea, but it was nice, wasn't it?"

Darrell blushed again. "It was," she said.

Upon hearing this, Alicia stepped closer to Darrell, took hold of her hands and kissed her again. This time, Darrell wasn't surprised. When the kiss ended, Darrell was faintly smiling. "I think I should tell Sally. This seems like there's room for growth."

Alicia laughed. "Then I'd better tell Betty."

They packed up the script and went to look for their respective friends.

Alicia found Betty just as she was leaving the North Tower common room, as she was apparently looking for Alicia as well.

"Betty, can I talk with you for a bit," said Alicia.

Betty nodded and they found an unused classroom and said down on the empty desks. "Alicia," said Betty, "I think that Gwen may have found out about the trick. I saw her sneaking around the room where you were writing the script. It seemed as if she was trying to listen at the door."

At first, Alicia didn't pay mind to this. Both she and Darrell were careful not to let anything suspicious slip. Still, if Gwen overheard what happened today… No, that probably did not happen. "Don't worry about that, we were careful," she said, "Listen Betty, there's something more important. I've… kissed Darrell."

"What?" said Betty, "But why?"

"I guess I just wanted to," said Alicia, "Don't worry about this. I just wanted you to know, since we're friends, but I'll deal with it on my own."

"Then why did you tell me?" said Betty, "Now that I know, I can't help but worry."

"You're my friend, my best friend and I wouldn't exchange you for anything or anyone in the world," said Alicia.

"I… thank you," said Betty, "But I wasn't worried about that. Please, Alicia, be careful. You were serious when you told me, right?"

"I was," said Alicia and then she smiled, trying to look as confident as she felt. "Don't forget, I'm the smartest girl in the the school. If I can't think of how to avoid getting in trouble because of this, then nobody can."

"I don't know," said Betty, "Anyway, if you need help, I'm here for you."

"I know that," said Alicia after a pause, "Thank you."

It seemed as if Darrell's talk with Sally went over as well as Alicia's talk with Betty. During the dinner, Darrell was uncharacteristically quiet and Sally was staring daggers at Alicia. The entire athmosphere of the meal was tense and even the uninvolved girls seemed to notice. When it was finally over, Alicia went to the dormitory, hoping that Sally would not want to force a confrontation, but Sally caught up with her.

"Alicia," she said, "We have to talk."

Alicia just nodded and they went into an empty classroom. She wasn't afraid of Sally, because while Sally was jealous, she did not possess Darrell's temper and even if she had tried to attack Alicia, Alicia was confident that she could hold her own.

"You planned this," said Sally immediately after closing the door, "All this, insulting me and driving me away, just because you wanted Darrell for yourself." Her voice was trembling, but Sally was keeping her calm and was speaking in her normal tone, not even raising her voice.

At first, Alicia did not know what to make of this, but she soon realised that from Sally's point of view, looking at the entire thing like that made sense. "No, that's not true," said Alicia, "I did not plan anything, it was all on a whim."

"A whim?" said Sally, "You did something like this on a whim? Oh, this is just the limit, Alicia. I can't believe you're… a whim! Goodness!"

"Sally! Calm down!" said Alicia, "Either you can trust Darrell or you can't, but that's got nothing to do with me. Really, I thought you two sorted this out years ago."

"This is something completely different!" said Sally, "You know you'll be a bad influence on Darrell, just like before…"

Alicia cut her off. "Sally, I don't want to listen to your tirades. This is between Darrell and me, and Darrell and you. It does not concern you and me, so don't make a scene."

"Make a scene!" said Sally, "What would you do, if Betty was kissing someone behind your back?"

"Wish her well," said Alicia, "She's my friend, not my exclusive property. Now let me go."

Alicia tried to walk over to the door, but Sally stepped in front of it, preventing Alicia from leaving. "No," said Sally, "first you make that ridiculous proposal, then you cheat your way out of keeping the deal and the you do this?"

"Yes, I did it," said Alicia, "I kissed Darrell. Twice. And I liked it. Now let me go."

"Remember this, Alicia: I won't let you take Darrell away from me," said Sally and stepped away from the door.

Instead of replying, Alicia sighed and left the classroom. Sally did not follow her, so she arrived in the dormitory by herself. Everybody except Sally was already there, mostly getting ready to slip under the warm covers, even though there was still some time before lights out for the Fifth Form.

"Have you seen Sally?" asked Darrell as soon as Alicia entered.

"Yes, I did," said Alicia and tried to not betray any of her feelings about that meeting, "She shouldn't be far behind."

"I'm going to talk to her," said Darrell and left the dormitory.

When Sally entered the dormitory together with Darrell, it seemed that they have reached some sort of understanding. Sally looked much calmer, even though Alicia noticed that she had been crying. Darrell smiled at Alicia, but did not say anything and a little while later Alicia saw Bill and Clarissa exchanged what seemed to be a knowing look.

Just before lights out, Sally approached Alicia and whispered into her ear, "I'll trust Darrell, but I don't trust you."

Alicia nodded in acknowledgment and that was her last interaction with anybody that evening. Soon, she fell asleep and her sleep was calm and without dreams.

The next day when Alicia and Darrell went into the room they used for writing the script, they found that Sally was already there. "Chaperone," she said.

At first, Alicia was annoyed at the thought of Sally watching them, but then she decided to tease Sally just a little bit. She drew herself a bit closer to Darrell, taking and holding her free hand with one of her own. When she looked at Sally out of the corner of her eye, she had to admire Sally's self-control. Nothing of yesterday's anger showed on Sally's face which looked impassive.

After waiting a few minutes, Alicia decided to escalate matters. Making sure that she was in Sally's full view, she lightly kissed Darrell on the cheek. This time, there was definite reaction from Sally who clenched her fists and started to open her mouth, but Darrell spoke first, "Not now, Alicia. We have work to do."

Rebuffed like that, Alicia was frustrated. True, she had aggravated Sally a little, but immediately after that she gave Sally the satisfaction of seeing Darrell's reaction. She swallowed her disappointment and set to work, trying to ignore the satisfied smile she imagined on Sally's face. Still, she did not let go of Darrell's hand and Darrell did not make even the slightest attempt to free her hand.

The time for writing the script had passed quickly. In the days after that, the writing process was exactly the same: Alicia and Darrell working together with Sally watching them like a hawk. However, as Alicia did not mothing more to arouse Sally's suspicion, her vigilance slowly faded and one day, she didn't show up at all.

Wary of Sally hiding behind the door or opening the door and surprising her, Alicia kept her distance from Darrell. Only after the day's work was finished, Alicia gave Darrell a quick kiss on cheek. This time, Darrell smiled.

"Well, the day's work is finished, so I suppose there's no harm," said Darrell.

Encouraged, Alicia kissed Darrell on the lips, but Darrell quickly drew away. "No," said Darrell, "First, we have to talk. The last few days, we were too absorbed by the script and Sally was around, so we did not clear things up."

"Speaking of Sally," said Alicia, "Where did she go today?"

"Moira caught her and made her help coaching the First Form," said Darrell, "But don't avoid the topic, Alicia."

"I don't know what is there to talk about. I made up my mind," said Alicia, "I like you, you seem to like me, there's no problem."

"But there is," said Darrell, "I don't want to disappoint Sally."

"I don't care about Sally," said Alicia, "She just wants you to be a goody two shoes like her and never have any fun."

"That's not true. It's loads of fun being with Sally," said Darrell, "Not everybody has fun only by having wild ideas like you and Betty."

"Don't bring Betty into this," said Alicia, "She trusts me enough to let me be alone with you. The problem is Sally, not her."

"Maybe she is, but you don't have to insult her," said Darrell.

Afraid that Darrell would lose her temper, Alicia took a step back, both literally and figuratively. "Sorry, I said too much," she said.

"I'll talk with Sally," said Darrell, "She's a good, sensible girl, so she'll understand eventually."

Alicia just leaned in and kissed Darrell. When they separated, she spoke, "Does that mean you're not going to object to more kissing?"

"I'm not," said Darrell, "But not now, we're almost late for dinner."

That day, Alicia accompanied Darrell and Sally when they were heading to the dormitory. Just before they entered the dormy, Alicia and Darrell shared a quick kiss and Alicia was happy not only because she saw the sour look on Sally's face.

It did not take much more to finish the script, even though Darrell had become more accessible to distractions. Two days later, the script was finished to both Alicia's and Darrell's satisfaction. Ecstatic Gwen was presented with the role of Cinderella and she took the bait both line and sinker. The rehearsals could finally begin. Alicia, full of anticipation for the joke, did not even mind Moira's demands that much, especially with Darrell's encouragement. Even Sally seemed that she had got used to the idea of sometimes seeing Alicia and Darrell kiss, hold hands and generally fool around. When the day of the pantomime arrived, everything was ready.


	4. Chapter 4 Consequences

There were no other words that Alicia could have used: the pantomime was a complete and utter disaster. No one laughed at Gwen, who got through the entire performance mangling every single line and not even trying to emote, instead constantly wearing an expression of smug satisfaction. Rather than laughter, the audience's reaction was embarrassed silence and when someone did laugh, it seemed inappropriate.

However, Gwen was not the only one responsible. Mary-Lou and Daphne's performances were half-hearted at best and Alicia had to admit that the silent audience unnerved her.

At the end, there was only weak, polite applause, as the actresses shuffled backstage. Darrell was nowhere to be found and as soon as Alicia found out, she decided to ignore Moira calling everyone together. Instead, she slipped out of the room, unwilling to waste her time listening to Moira's lecture about their performance.

Alicia found Darrell in the room they had used for writing the script. She was standing at the window, looking outside, while the sheets of the script lay in disarray on the table. When Alicia shut the door behind her, Darrell turned around and Alicia saw that there were tears in her eyes and on her cheeks. "Alicia?" said Darrell.

She didn't reply, she just walked over and took hold of Darrell's hand.

"Where's Sally?" asked Darrell.

Alicia opened her mouth to speak, but quickly stopped herself. No, this was not the time. "Moira is giving the others a lecture. I managed to escape," she said instead.

"Oh," said Darrell.

They stayed silent for a few more moments. Then Alicia spoke, "If you want to cry, go ahead. Or if you want, tell me to get out."

"No," said Darrell, "I'm not a kid anymore."

"Oh, Darrell," said Alicia, "This is all my fault."

Darrell shook her head. "No, I agreed to that idea, even though I should have known better."

"Don't blame yourself like that," said Alicia, "It was me who brought up the idea and badgered you about it."

"Alicia," said Darrell, "I should have known better than to suddenly start rewriting the script and to cast Gwen as the lead."

"Darrell, don't be so hard on yourself," said Alicia.

"Alicia. Be quiet," said Darrell.

So Alicia was. Few minutes later, Darrell started to sob quietly and Alicia hugged her, softly stroking her hair. Darrell was openly crying, but Alicia stayed silent, not knowing whether Darrell would accept any consolation.

The door opened again and Sally stepped inside the room. Upon seeing Alicia and Darrell, she stopped for a second, but then approached them. "Darrell?" she said.

Darrell looked up and attempted a smile, but the result was more like a grimace. Sally did not say anything else, but took hold of Darrell's other hand and joined them.

Again, they passed some time in silence, until Darrell extricated herself from their hold and dried her face with a handkerchief. She sighed. "Come on, let's go meet our parents," she said.

Alicia and Sally looked at each other, but neither of them tried to stop Darrell, who despite her teary face had apparently regained self-control and was trying to put on a brave front. After Darrell took a deep breath and left the room, Sally and Alicia followed.

Despite Moira casting dark looks at them, Alicia stayed with Darrell almost until they met Mr and Mrs Rivers. Only then did Alicia leave Darrell to go and listen to Moira's speech about the wasted chance to make the pantomime something spectacular. Luckily, as Moira's own parents were near, she did not have to endure it for long. Small blessings, indeed.

All around her, the girls were talking to their parents. Almost everyone from the Fifth Form seemed embarrassed by the abysmal performance, except for Belinda, Irene and Mavis, who have all done spectaculary well. Of course, there was also Gwen, who was currently smothered by the praise of her mother, while her father stood aside, his face mirroring the embarrassment of Fifth Form girls.

Rather than witness the praise heaped on Gwen's head, Alicia steeled herself and went to find her family. Those of her brothers who were able to attend the Christmas entertainment at Malory Towers immediately started their ribbing, but Alicia found her mind wandering away to Darrell. How was she holding up?

Unfortunately, Alicia and Darrell did not have much time before they went home for Christmas proper, but they had managed to steal some time together in their writing room, where they had both gone to collect some of the things they had left there.

"Alicia," said Darrell, "I don't blame you for any of that. I just want you to know."

Alicia tried to smile, but it did not feel right. "Don't you dare blame yourself, Darrell," she said, "It was my idea to make Gwen the lead and that was what sunk the script."

"Do you mean that the script was good?" asked Darrell.

Alicia just nodded. She remained silent after that, afraid of Darrell's reaction. Would Darrell realise that the blame was solely on Alicia's shoulders? Or would her disappointment turn into anger?

Just as she was about to leave, Alicia heard Darrell speak, "Wait."

Obeying Darrell, Alicia stopped and turned around. Darrell smiled at her a little. "Alicia, I want to tell you: this joke of yours was a terrible idea," said Darrell.

Alicia nodded and Darrell continued, "But you know, I've learned a lesson from it, so it was not all bad. I should have listened to Sally."

Alicia nodded again, feeling as if she were once again a little kid, listening to father scolding her. However, the mention of Sally made her also feel a little bit of jealousy. However, instead of punishing her like father did, Darrell walked over to Alicia and kissed her. Then she smiled at Alicia. "See you next term," said Darrell.

And once more, Alicia nodded and smiled at Darrell.


End file.
